Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei speaking in a meeting with members of Iran’s Experts Assembly in Tehran, Iran, Sept. 3, 2015. (Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader/ AP Images)
(JTA) — Iran’s supreme leader said the Islamic Republic would not cooperate with the United States on regional issues, saying its support for Israel shows that their goals are diametrically opposed.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei gave a far-reaching foreign policy address to top Iranian diplomats on Sunday in Tehran. Excerpts of the address were posted on the leader’s official government Twitter account, which has 161,000 followers.
“The main factor of insecurity in the region is U.S. support for the Zionist regime and terrorist groups,” Khamenei said.
“On the issue of Palestine, while denying the usurping, fake regime and strongly condemning the everyday crimes and calamities by this regime, we have proposed an election with all Palestinians participating in it which is in full compliance with all common principles if the world,” he said. “Any government formed by the vote of Palestinians will decide about the fate of Zionists and settlers.”
Khamenei called for continued development of relations with neighboring countries, Islamic countries and other African countries, the Fars News agency reported.
He praised the “effort and seriousness” of the negotiating team that arrived at a nuclear deal with the world powers, as well as “the feeling of power and sitting in front of six global powers to defend our goals and establish your presence” during the talks.
Last month, Khamenei banned future talks with the United States. He has said similar things in speeches since the nuclear deal was reached in July. He had officially supported those negotiations.
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